Just made this for my best friend’s birthday.  Inside the cake are 5 layers of cake that match the frosting on the outside: red velvet, white, and midnight black cake.  The logo and letters on top are all done in chocolate.

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’m originally from St. Louis.  Needless to say, I am NOT a Blackhawks fan.  However, my best friend is a HUGE Blackhawks fan; she never misses a game.  I considered hiding some blue and yellow frosting in the center of the cake, but I managed to refrain.  However, on the back of her birthday card, I included a picture of the St. Louis Blue’s logo.  And, I wore a blue shirt while delivering the cake.

Time will tell which city hosts the better hockey team.

Blueberry Cake and Blueberry Cake 10 minutes later.  My teenage son doesn’t even like blueberries and he ate three pieces of cake.

Here’s the back story on tonight’s cake.  It was snowing, I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store to get anything for dinner.  After looking in my refrigerator, I decided that I would make a breakfast dinner.  If you’re not familiar, that’s when you eat breakfast foods for dinner.  My kids are convinced that breakfast foods taste better at dinnertime.  I decided to make scrambled eggs and sausage.  I considered starch options: toast, bagels, or biscuits.  Then I thought to myself, if I make muffins or a coffee cake it’s like a combination of a breakfast starch and a dinner dessert.  Hence, I chose blueberry cake – it was like killing two birds with one stone.  Looking at the empty plate above, it’s more like my family killed-off the cake.

   Never heard of gooey butter cake?  Well, it is a St. Louis tradition.  The name says it all.  It rich, dense, and of course gooey.  It is typically served like a coffee cake.  Supposedly, Walmart sells a version of gooey butter cake and calls it Paula Deen Baked Goods Original Gooey Butter Cake.  Since Paula Deen is the queen of butter, I would hope her cake is good.

In the photo, it is chocolate gooey butter cake on the left and a vanilla version on the right.

I realize that this is my second cinnamon-centered cake in one week.  Why?  Because at Thanksgiving, my family tried someone else’s cake. Blasphemous!  I politely asked for the recipe and was denied.  Therefore, I tapped into my competitive nature and engineered my own recipe.  In the end, who’s cake was better?  Mine or the baker who shall not be named?  Mine!

This is a very simple recipe, but tastes amazing.  This cake never lasts more than a few hours in my house.  It’s perfect with a cup of coffee any time of the day.  While I can’t eat it because I’m gluten free, its aroma is heavenly.